Stock-car ventilator



(No Model.)

A. G. MATHER. STOCK GAR VENTILATOR.

N0. 577,871. Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

m: 'uonms PETERS co wnorou'mu. WASHINGTON, o. c.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALONZO C. MATHER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

STOCK-CAR VENTILATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,871, dated March 2, 1897.

Application filed April 3, 1895. Serial No- 544,285. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ALONZO (J. MATHER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stock-Oar Ventilators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to ventilating a stock- 'car by means of opening and closing the space between the slats in the lower part of the sides of said car; and the object is to provide a means of so ventilating said class of cars that may be easily applied to the now-existing cars with but little alteration, and the general manner by which I accomplish this result is by placing a thin slat or covering in such a manner that it may be made to close the spaces between the slats of the car independent of each other. The manner of my accomplishing these results is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an inside elevation of a stock-car, showing the general arrangement of myinvention. Fig. 2 is a detail elevation of the invention, showing the sliding plates in detail elevation, with a portion raised and a portion in a closed position. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan showing a detail arrangement of the slides in plan. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the sliding piece. Fig. 5 is a detail of the hook which holds the plates in an opened position.

Similar letters refer to like parts in the various views of the drawings.

In the drawings, A refers to the stock-car, which may be of ordinary construction, and which has the lower part so arranged that it is slatted, with spaces between the slats.

B are the upright posts of the car and are placed in the ordinary positions.

0 are the bracing-pieces and are placed in the ordinary positions.

D are the sliding plates which are used for the purpose of closing the opening between the slats. These plates are preferably made of thin sheet-iron and have in the end the slot D, for the purposes hereinafter described.

F is the filling-piece which holds the slats away from the posts 13, so that the sliding pieces may slide up and down, the purpose being simply to act as a filling-block.

II is the hook which holds the sliding piece in an up position.

The arrangement of my means of ventilation is as follows: On the inside of the upright posts of the car are placed the filling-pieces F, which are attached to said upright posts by screws or in any other manner desired. This filling-piece serves to hold the slats A away from the posts 13. Between the slats and the posts 13 are placed the sliding pieces D, which sliding pieces are held in place by the bolt B, passing through the slots 1]) in the ends of said plates, as is clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

When it is desired to ventilate the car by letting fresh air into it, the sliding pieces D,

which cover the space A between the slats A,

are raised and are held in position by the hook H, which is caught under said sliding pieces, and the required amount of ventilation may be had by raising the required number of sliding pieces and thus openinga sufficient number of the spaces A in the side of the car. Should it be desired to close the car entirely, as, for instance, in very cold weather, this may be done by closing all of the sliding pieces, and thus the car will be completely closed and as tight as an ordinary box-car.

I do not wish to limit myself to any particular material for making the sliding pieces, but sheet-iron is preferable, the object being to have a substantial and thin sliding piece that may have the slots in its ends.

Having thus described my improvements, what I desire to claim as my invention and to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The combination with walls solidly closed above and slatted longitudinally with open spaces between the slats at the lower half-wall, of a sliding piece with end slots transversely across said piece and headed bolts in said slots held in the framing of the car, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with side walls solidly closed above and slatted longitudinally with open spaces between the slats to the lower half-wall of sliding pieces with transverse slots, headed bolts in said slots held in the framing of the car and gravity-actuated hooks to catch the lower edge of said sliding piece, substantially as specified.

3. The combination With side Walls solidly closed above and slatted longitudinally with open spaces between the slats at the lower half-Wall, and a filling-piece, of sliding pieces with transverse end slots, headed bolts in said 10 slots held in the framing of the car, and gravity-actuated hooks to catch the lower edge of said sliding piece, substantially as specified.

ALONZO C. MATHER. Witnesses:

FRED W. HERSEY, MARY V. WELLER. 

